This group started at a session Kris Davis called. We played for about and hour and Tyshawn Sorey suggested we turn it into collaboration with each one of us contributing compositions.
We have developed an almost telepathic way of interacting really deconstruct and improvise with the sometimes long and involved compositions. Everything is possible and each one of us is kept on his/her toes all the time, it reminds me of being on a (sophisticated) playground.
This exciting trio sees Drummer Tyshawn Sorey, pianist Kris Davis and reedist Ingrid Laubrock, all extremely thoughtful and engaging composer-improvisers, join forces. All three musicians contribute their own unmistakable compositions to the group's sound. “AllAboutJazz” has described their unique interplay as “a taut set, as if they'd agreed to avoid the easy way to make a fire and instead rubbed sticks telekinetically”. On this CD you will find music on a superior level using a wide range of dynamics, density and expression. The trio recorded its two Cds so far, CD “Paradoxical Frog” and the follow-up “Union”, both for Cleanfeed Records.
[…] a wowingly sensitive encounter with mostly-free but sometimes creatively structured music of the moment, and one of the most memorable sets of the festival. Joseph Woodard /Jazz Times (about the performance at the 2010 Moers Jazz Festival)
“Paradoxical Frog” (Clean Feed), Ms. Davis in a trio with Ms. Laubrock and Mr. Sorey — a frequently stunning record, and so far one of this year’s best. Nate Chinen/.NY-Times
NPR/The Best of 2010: […]All three share a similar approach to abstract jazz composition and execution: loose and unfolding like a flowering tea, yet full of unexpected color. Lars Gotrich, NPR Music
The STONE: "New York City", August 2, 2009
Ingrid Laubrock's collective trio, playing at The Stone Aug. 2nd, seemed to use the stacks of scores on their music stands more as symbols than charts; while they didn't often turn the pages, they played a lot of music and did so with a level of determinism that was hard to gauge. Long lines seemed to circle through Laubrock's saxophone, Kris Davis' piano and Tyshawn Sorey's drums, almost as if they were playing a round during the opening of their first long piece. There was an appealingly odd sense that the players were following each other, either repeating or completing lines four bars later. It spoke to the band's telepathy (all contribute compositions), but also, when they built to short, off-center stops, suggested strong compositional sensibilities. The staggered statements made the moments of closer playing seem not just serendipitous (although surely they weren't), but nearly impossible, as if they had to bend time to get to the same place. They moved throughout the set between measured and open passages, blurring the lines between the two yet always remaining clean. There was something tidy, deliberate, about the music. Laubrock at times played forcefully but her tone was always pure, rarely descending into the tenor's growls and groans. Davis was at times loud, but was always chordal and melodic. Sorey played fast, but rarely heavily. It was a taut set, as if they'd agreed to avoid the easy way to make a fire and instead rubbed sticks telekinetically. —Kurt Gottschalk, All About Jazz
Paradoxical Frog - photo by Daniel Sheehan